The present invention relates to folding furniture and, more specifically, to a pivoting leg assembly for an article of folding furniture that is rotated between a substantially upright storage position and a substantially horizontal use position.
Various forms of folding furniture are well known in the prior art and are commonly used where available space within the area of use is limited. Such folding furniture is provided with a rotation system that allows for the rotation of the “user-contacting portion,” i.e., a supporting frame and cushion/mattress components, between a storage position and a use position. Typically, the storage position is substantially upright (or vertical), and the furniture is housed in a decorative cabinet in this storage position. The use position is substantially horizontal, allowing the user to sit or lie on the cushion/or mattress held by the supporting frame. Because the combined weight of the elements that make up the user-contacting portion can be considerable, counterbalancing mechanisms are frequently employed that allow an individual to easily raise the user-contacting portion to the substantially upright storage position.
Various counterbalancing mechanisms have been developed for such folding furniture, including spring systems, counterbalancing hinges, and piston-based arrangements. Piston-based arrangements have proven to be especially effective in heavier applications, such as the counterbalancing of the weight of a wall bed, which includes the weight of the frame and the mattress (and possibly box springs). Examples of such piston-based arrangements are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,033,134 and 5,978,988, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. As described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,033,134 and 5,978,988, two gas-filled counterbalance pistons, which provide an appropriate resistive force to the gravitational force acting on the frame and mattress, are respectively secured to the inside surfaces of the wall-mounted cabinet (housing the frame and mattress in the substantially upright storage position) and to the sides of the frame. The pistons are biased to resist, i.e., counterbalance, the downward force of gravity acting on the user-contacting portion, thus assisting in both the lowering of the user-contacting portion to the use position and the lifting/returning of the user-contacting portion to the substantially upright storage position.
Furthermore, and as also described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,033,134 and 5,978,988, such wall beds or other forms of folding furniture typically require some form of pivoting leg assembly that is pivoted into position to support the wall bed or other folding furniture in the use position. However, when returned to the substantially upright storage position, some portion of the pivoting leg assembly may still be visible, which can interfere with the appearance or use of the decorative cabinet in which article of folding furniture is housed.